Advantages

Disadvantages

A great piece of kit, but mostly for beginners or daylight commuters

I purchased my Cateye Strada Wireless around two years ago, give or take a quarter. I recall that my two main objectives were simple. Firstly, I wanted to have some way of telling the time whilst hammering my way to work, often late and bleary eyed, and secondly, I was curious about my maximum sprint speed.

2000 miles later, one change of bike, and a huge injection of enthusiasm later, my objectives have changed a little bit. Now, average speeds hold a lot more interest to me, along with pace. The Strada Wireless has kept up with these needs, but has failed to meet others.

The Strada is simple to operate. One button press, either short or long, can operate all of the functions required during everyday use. The battery within the computer itself appears to last forever, and the device is entirely water proof, windproof, has withstood hail, light impacts, and all range of temperatures, right down to below freezing. The battery in the sensor lasted for around a year of solid use, and then required replacing. This was a simple operation by any measure.

Sadly, this cycle computer cannot measure cadence, heart rates, and features no GPS ability, however for the price (I paid £50, but they appear to now be available at just over £30), this is to be expected.However this unit does have flaws.

Firstly, (and perhaps this is a flaw with the user, rather than the product) I have been unable to remove it from its bracket at any point over the two years that I have owned it. This is quite a serious issue, as the setup controls are situated on the rear of the computer, which now appears to be permanently obscured. Lucky then, that when I switched bikes, many of the salient measurements that needed to be fed into the device remained extremely similar. This issue also makes it either a target for theft, or an inconvenience. If I leave my bike in a public area, the entire bracket now needs to be removed, which doesn't take long, but is irritating.

Secondly, the screen has no backlight, and cannot be easily read in low/no light conditions. You'll need to look at a more expensive device, or try a different brand for this functionality.

Finally, there are also minor design issues with the sensor. Its range is poor. It needs to be worryingly close to the wheel (in my opinion) to detect the spinning magnet, and the sensor's output can only be detected from the front wheel, as the back wheel appears to be too far away from the head unit.This means that this cycle computer is of absolutely no use to you if you want to use it on a turbo trainer.

So, in summary, the Cateye Strada is reliable, hardy and functional, but basic. Buy it if you need a cycle computer for daily commutes or training in the light. Don't buy if you cycle a lot at night, use a turbo trainer, or want something that can measure cadence, heart rate, or provide GPS feedback!